A letter from our Director, Cap Corduan, about the change in the camp audition process for 2019

Dear families,

​We have made a slight change to the camp audition process for 2019. This year, your child’s audition video will not only be used for placement within camp, it will also be used for entrance to camp itself. If our musical team does not feel that your child is musically ready for camp, we will ask him/her to wait. This year, we are not grandfathering past campers.

Whereas Junior Fife and Drum Camp is an amazing experience, it is not a beginner/novice music camp. The day is far too long and intense for those who have not achieved beyond the novice level. The musicians who come to camp need to be able to play the standpiece music to be successful and happy.

In the past, we have used the honor system and have asked parents and directors not to send beginner musicians. Unfortunately, this has not always happened. Some novice musicians have attended and have struggled significantly at camp. Not only has this led to very miserable young musicians, it has affected people on the waiting list who might have attended successfully but were waitlisted.

How will this new process work? It is simple. By February 1st, you will register for camp online as you have done in the past. Here is the registration link. You will then be notified via email that you are provisionally registered. At that time, we will also release the audition music for both fifes and drums. Your child will then have a couple weeks to learn the music, video it, and turn it in. (Please see the website for information about how to turn in audition videos.) We are not looking for perfection and we are not looking for memorization. We want to know how your child plays.

Your child will turn in the general audition music piece by February 15. We will notify you/your musician by February 28th of acceptance with more information about payment and/or scholarship applications.

If you are feeling concerned right now, please know that this will not affect the vast majority of our campers who can easily learn and play the camp music. However, if you look at last year’s general audition music and you know that it will be a significant struggle for your child to learn that music (without significant adult instruction), please wait a year. Music from 2018 and 2017 can be found here

Because of this new policy, please do not send any tuition deposits as you have in the past. You will receive more information about payment and the scholarship application form in future correspondence.

As always, please feel free to contact me to discuss this change in policy or to discuss anything about camp. I welcome your feedback and look forward to an amazing year at camp!